If you have spent any time in the church culture you've heard some sort of conversation about spiritual gifting. You can't avoid it. Spiritual gifts are mentioned in scripture and we know that we should be empowering people to use their gifts and make a difference. Oftentimes there are spiritual gift tests and even classes. The problem is that most churches try to plug people in to use a "gift" in their church building. They connect them on a hospitality team, get them working in the nursery, or make them ushers. People are left wondering "is this it?" The Spirit of God filled me so that I could greet people at the door? I thought that was just something people did because they were nice. 

The problem is that churches have mostly conceived of themselves as a Sunday Service with a large group of people. If you have a large group of people for a service that is mostly led by a few individuals what does everyone else do? Spectate. It's all they can really do. It's not that they don't care, it’s not that they don't want to take action, its that they are onboard a cruise ship.

Enter the missional, micro-church. These small expressions of the church involve everyone. Smaller expressions of the church enable each person to speak up, provide care, strategize mission, pray, and hear the voice of God together to multiply into new communities. When you are smaller you can organize in a way where everybody plays. You end up with a whole bunch of agile speed boats, kayaks, and canoes. This is the perfect environment for everyone to use their gifts. 

A small group of people can organize to fight against sex trafficking, move furniture on a Saturday morning, pray over a friend that is sick, and hold a barbecue on a Friday night. A microchurch or missional community is just the right size to take action, its the secret sauce for agility and movement. 

Don't rush to get big. Don't buy into the pressure that you must prove your worth as a church by how many people you can gather into a room or in a zoom meeting. Think small. Think slow. Think Healthy. Think Multiply.

Mike Jarrell oversees coaching, vision and training at Narrow Road Communities in Harrisburg, PA. He also serves as director of the Creo Collective.